Community Forums

timjet · 02-17-2023, 12:11 PM

I'm trying to figure out how this is going to work. Seller has a loan on his RV. He is selling it to me. I am not getting a loan. Before the bank who owns the loan will release the title, they will want the loan paid off. So seller has to pay off the loan but must get the money from me to do so. I don't want to give him any money (other than the deposit) until I know I will get the title.

So how do private party transactions work when the seller has a loan?

Dutch Star Don · 02-17-2023, 12:54 PM

Some use an escrow account like you would on a home. Others go directly to the seller's bank, conduct the transaction and have the title signed over to them (buyer).

You NEVER allow the money to leave your hands and have to depend on the seller to process the payoff and send you the title.

wolfe10 · 02-17-2023, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

Some use an escrow account like you would on a home. Others go directly to the seller's bank, conduct the transaction and have the title signed over to them (buyer).

You NEVER allow the money to leave your hands and have to depend on the seller to process the payoff and send you the title.

All good advice.

Another good option is to go to your bank, even though you are not financing it. An officer at your bank can "draft for title" with an officer at the seller's lending facility. Your banker can assist you in addressing the difference between loan balance and what you are paying.

Done every day.

Gary RVRoamer · 02-18-2023, 10:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

You NEVER allow the money to leave your hands and have to depend on the seller to process the payoff and send you the title.

I think that's very much a case-by-case decision to make. Afterall, it's exactly what you do when you buy a vehicle from a dealer. Obviously you have to assure that the seller is reliable and ethical, but that's not an impossibility even for a private sale. I would certainly make sure any advance payment was made to the lender & the seller as co-owners, though.

Bigd9 · 02-18-2023, 10:48 AM

When I bought our current coach, the seller owed more than what I was paying for it. My bank contacted his bank and set up a escrow account. Once the seller placed his money into the escrow account my bank transferred my money. The lean holding bank then sent me the title.

I guess as Wolfe10 indicated that was a "draft for title" although I never heard that term before. Makes sense.

txcpl · 02-19-2023, 06:06 AM

Banks and credit unions do this all the time. Go to your bank or his bank and ask them how to handle such a transaction. They will do the paperwork and get you the title in due time.